Police Beat

It’s election season and that means it’s also when political campaign signs are vandalized. In the past week, Anacortes Police said they received two such reports.

On October 18, a homeowner in the 1600 block of 32nd Street reported that someone had stolen two political campaign signs from her yard and that several other campaign signs had been vandalized by being ripped out of the ground. One sign had also been defaced with a swastika and the words “white power.” The suspects remain unknown. Then, two days later, a resident in the 1300 block of 6th Street reported a political campaign sign had been set on fire near the curb. A passerby put out the fire and it was unknown who had caused the damage.

Some of the other police cases, as reported by the Anacortes Police Department:

October 17

Officers responded to the report of a traffic accident in the 900 block of 31st Street where a vehicle had crashed through the chain link fencing on the north and east sides of a property where a 45-year-old woman and her brother lived. Officers contacted the brother and sister and the woman’s 48-year-old boyfriend outside of the house. The boyfriend appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Officers were told that the woman and her boyfriend had argued at the house before the boyfriend got into his pickup and left at a high rate of speed. The pickup then reportedly veered back towards the woman’s house and crashed through a fence at a neighboring property and then continued through a fence on the woman’s property line. The pickup then came to a stop a short distance from the woman’s house. The woman and her brother both reported that they believed the boyfriend had been trying to crash his pickup into the house. The boyfriend showed several signs of intoxication and he had no explanation as to how the collision occurred. He failed field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest. The man refused to take a breath test or answer direct questions. He was booked into jail on charges of attempted vehicular assault and DUI.

Officers responded to a store in the 900 block of 11th Street after employees reported that a woman who had been previously trespassed from the store was refusing to leave. Officers contacted an 18-year-old Anacortes woman on a bench outside of the store and learned that she had four outstanding warrants for her arrest. She was placed under arrest and the officer found a small amount of marijuana in her pocket during the arrest search. She was cited for possession of marijuana and given new court dates on her warrants as the jail would not accept her for booking.

A 23-year-old Anacortes woman reported that her 26-year-old ex-boyfriend had called her several times in violation of a domestic violence no-contact order. The officer viewed several text messages on the woman’s phone that were also allegedly left by the man. The man was later contacted at his residence in the 500 block of 6th Street where he admitted to officers that he had sent text messages to the woman. He also said that he knew his action violated the court order. The man was placed under arrest and booked into jail for violation of the order.

An officer stopped a vehicle for speeding in the 1000 block of Commercial Avenue. The officer also saw that the vehicle was swerving in the roadway. The driver was identified as a 21-year-old Anacortes man who said that he had just moved to town from Michigan. The man smelled strongly of intoxicants and said that he had drunk “three beers.” He performed poorly on field sobriety tests and was placed under arrest for drunk driving. The man refused to take a breath test and he was cited and released for DUI.

October 18

A man visiting friends in the 2300 block of E Avenue reported that a woman had hit her live-in boyfriend in the side of the head after the two had an argument. The friend reported that the man had tried to walk away from the argument, but that the woman kept following him until she finally “exploded” and struck her boyfriend with an open hand in the head. Officers spoke with the boyfriend who had visible redness to his head. The boyfriend confirmed that the woman had hit him. Officers spoke with the woman who denied hitting her boyfriend. Based upon the statements of the two men and the redness to the victim, the woman was arrested for domestic violence assault. She was booked into the county jail.

An employee of a grocery store in the 1500 block of Commercial Avenue reported that an unknown male had stolen a hand basket full of groceries and fled the parking lot in a blue pickup. It was unknown what items were stolen, but the shopping basket was valued at $60. The suspect was described as a white male in his fifties with gray hair. Officers were unable to locate the man or the pickup.

An Anacortes woman reported that her son’s guitar was missing from a residence in the 3900 block of W. 3rd Street where her son practiced with his fellow band mates. The son had checked with the other band members, but no one knew the whereabouts of the guitar. No other band equipment appeared to have been taken from the house.

An Anacortes man reported that his 37-year-old ex-wife had violated a no-contact order that barred her from having contact with him or their daughter. The man reported that his ex-wife had driven up to him at a park in the 1900 block of 13th Street and yelled and made obscene gestures at him. The man’s current wife witnessed the behavior by the former wife. The ex-wife was then contacted in the 1700 block of Bakerview Court where she was placed under arrest for violation of the no-contact order. She was booked into jail.

October 20

A 37-year-old Anacortes man reported that he had driven his girlfriend’s car to visit a friend in the 3700 block of M Avenue the previous day. While at the house, a 44-year-old former resident of the house stopped by to retrieve some property. The man looked outside and saw the former resident using a folding knife to scratch the man’s girlfriend’s car. The man confronted the former resident who then called him derogatory names. The officer found numerous fresh scratches to the surface of the car and the victim later provided a repair estimate that totaled approximately $1400. Contact with the suspect is pending.

An Anacortes woman reported that her son’s cell phone had been stolen at the Middle School approximately ten days earlier and that it had then been used to run up over $900 in unauthorized calls and download fees. A school official identified a 13-year-old female student as a possible suspect as she had been caught with another stolen cell phone at the school the previous week. An officer later spoke with the girl and her parents and she admitted to stealing the phone and accumulating the charges. Possible theft charges are pending.

October 21

A Guemes Island man reported that the rear quarter panel of his car had been dented while parked in a parking lot in the 1500 block of Commercial Avenue. The man discovered the damage after he returned to his car from shopping for a short time. There was no paint transfer and the suspect vehicle is unknown.

A resident of the 400 block of 5th Street reported that a car stereo and an I-pod had been stolen out of her vehicle sometime during the previous night. The vehicle had been parked in the driveway and the victim believed that she might have left it unlocked. The value of the missing items was estimated at $300.

A Renton man reported that the left side of his vehicle had received approximately $500 in damage while it had been parked curbside in the 400 block of Commercial Avenue. The man had been away from his car for approximately 45 minutes and he discovered the damage when he returned. The victim said that he had just purchased the vehicle the previous day. There was no evidence of whom or what caused the damage.

Officers responded to the report of a fire in the 700 block of 4th Street. A witness had been driving by and saw flames next to some cargo containers. The officer discovered approximately three wooden pallets that contained various industrial and construction equipment were burning inside of a fenced area. The fire department responded and extinguished the fire. The cause of the fire was unknown and is under investigation.

October 22

A 27-year-old Anacortes man reported that his Mazda pickup had been prowled while it had been parked curbside in the 1400 block of 16th Street. The victim said that sometime during the previous night someone had entered his pickup through an unlocked door and stole a bottle of prescription medication, $10 in cash, and a pack of cigarettes.

An 18-year-old Anacortes woman reported that she had moved out of a house in the 4000 block of I Avenue a few weeks earlier due to friction between her and two other housemates. The woman reported that she had recently collected some personal items she had left at the house, but discovered that she was missing an i-Pod and two digital cameras. The woman spoke with one of her former housemates who told her that she had seen the other former housemate going through the woman’s possessions. An officer spoke with the former housemate who denied having taken or thrown out any of the woman’s property. It was suggested to the victim that she pursue the matter through civil court.

A resident of the 3600 block of F Avenue reported a prowler complaint in which someone was knocking on a backyard door to her house. The resident also reported that her dogs were barking. Officers responded and contacted a 22-year-old Anacortes man who was standing at a nearby intersection. The man denied having been at the reporting party’s house and claimed he was walking to his girlfriend’s house. Officers and the resident checked the house and found no signs of entry, but the resident later discovered that a bathroom window had been tampered with and some items on the window ledge were knocked onto the floor. There was no evidence that the man had been on the property, but he did have a history of burglary activity from his teenage years in which a window had been the method of entry.

October 23

A resident of the 4400 block of Glasgow Way reported that he wanted to pursue criminal trespass charges against a former tenant for stealing a sofa from his house. The officer learned that the sofa actually belonged to the former tenant but that the man had retrieved the couch at a time when the homeowner was not home. The former tenant had allegedly entered the house through an unlocked door, but the homeowner had not given permission to the former tenant to enter the house when he was away. The matter was referred to the City Prosecutor for review.

A man residing in the 2600 block of D Avenue reported that someone had entered his pickup during the previous night and stole a watch valued at $300, a phone valued at $200, a digital camera valued at $300.00, a full five gallon gas can, and $950 in cash. The vehicle had been parked in the driveway and left unsecured.

An employee of a medical business in the 1200 block of 24th Street reported that someone had stolen her breast pump. The pump had been in a carrying bag and left in the reception area overnight. When the victim returned to work, she discovered the item was missing.

A couple living in the 3500 block of F Avenue reported that sometime during the night, someone had moved a bench from their yard to under their overhanging porch. It appeared that by using the bench to climb onto the porch, the prowler could have gained access to three upstairs windows. No entry was made into the house, but the incident was possibly related to another prowler complaint in the neighborhood.

October 24

A resident of the 1800 block of 7th Street reported that someone had smashed out the wing window of his pickup during the previous night while it was parked in his driveway. The thief then entered the pickup and forced open the sliding rear window to allow access into the truck bed. The victim said he was missing a compressor, a sawsall, various nailing guns, a jigsaw, and numerous hand power tools. The estimated value of the stolen tools was over $3000.

A 67-year-old Anacortes man was cited for his dog running at large in the 1100 block of 9th Street. The Animal Control Officer had seen the dog running loose and had previously warned the dog owner about the animal needing to be on a leash. She had even offered to give the man a leash but he said that he had plenty. The dog owner told the officer that he did not believe in the law and was not going to use a leash. The man also told the Animal Control Officer that he thought she should retire as she had been doing her job too long and that he wanted his day in court to tell that to the judge. The man was advised he would get his day in court as he was handed his citation.